Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been associated with coronary mortality. Yet, data about the association between COPD and acute myocardial infarction (MI) remain scarce. We aimed to study airway obstruction as a predictor of MI and coronary mortality among 5576 Finnish adults who participated in a national health examination survey between 1978 and 1980. Subjects underwent spirometry, had all necessary data, showed no indications of cardiovascular disease at baseline, and were followed up through record linkage with national registers through 2011. The primary outcome consisted of a major coronary event-that is, hospitalization for MI or coronary death, whichever occurred first. We specified obstruction using the lower limit of normal categorization. Through multivariate analysis adjusted for potential confounding factors for coronary heart disease, hazard ratios (HRs) (with the 95% confidence intervals in parentheses) of a major coronary event, MI, and coronary death reached 1.06 (0.79-1.42), 0.84 (0.54-1.31), and 1.40 (1.04-1.88), respectively, in those with obstruction compared to others. However, in women aged 30-49 obstruction appeared to predict a major coronary event, where the adjusted HR reached 4.21 (1.73-10.28). In conclusion, obstruction appears to predict a major coronary event in younger women only, whereas obstruction closely associates with the risk of coronary death independent of sex and age.

Only a few studies have examined the occurrence of atopy and clinically apparent allergic disease and their pharmacological management in elite athletes. The aim of the study was to assess the frequency of allergic rhinitis and the use of antiallergic medication within the subgroups of elite athletes as compared with a representative sample of young adults of the same age.

A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 2002. All the athletes (N = 494) financially supported by the National Olympic Committee comprised the study group. Of them, 446 (90.3%) filled in a structured questionnaire concerning asthma and allergies, the use of medication, characteristics of sport activities, and smoking habits. A representative sample of Finnish young adults (N = 1504) served as controls.

The endurance athletes reported physician-diagnosed allergic rhinitis more often (36.1%) than other athletes (23.4%) or control subjects (20.2%). The use of antiallergic medication was reported by 33.3, 15.7, and 15.6% of those, respectively. Among both athletes and controls, females reported the use of antiallergic medication more often than males. Only half of those athletes reporting allergic rhinitis had used antiallergic medication during the past year. After adjusting for age and sex, OR (95% CI) for allergic rhinitis and the use of antiallergic medication were 2.24 (1.48-3.39) and 2.79 (1.82-4.28), respectively, in endurance athletes as compared with the controls.

Endurance athletes have physician-diagnosed allergic rhinitis, and they use antiallergic medication more often than athletes in other events or control subjects. Only half of those athletes reporting allergic rhinitis take antiallergic medication. More attention needs to be paid to the optimal management of allergic rhinitis, especially in highly trained endurance athletes.

We studied the association between all-cause and cause-specific mortality and GOLD stages 1-4 in a 30-year follow-up among 6636 Finnish men and women aged 30 or older participating in the Mini-Finland Health Study between 1978 and 1980.

After adjusting for age, sex, and smoking history, the GOLD stage of the subject showed a strong direct relationship with all-cause mortality, mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and cancer. The adjusted hazard ratios of death were 1.27 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-1.51), 1.40 (1.21-1.63), 1.55 (1.21-1.97) and 2.85 (1.65-4.94) for GOLD stages 1-4, respectively, with FEV1/FVC =70% as the reference. The association between GOLD stages 2-4 and mortality was strongest among subjects under 50 years of age at the baseline measurement. Cardiovascular mortality increased consistently for all GOLD stages.

Airway obstruction indicates an increased risk for all-cause mortality according to the severity of the GOLD stage. We found that even stage 1 carries a risk for cardiovascular death independently of smoking history and other known risk factors.

Both clinical and epidemiologic studies have shown an association between atherosclerotic changes in the aorta or lumbar arteries and lumbar disc degeneration. However, the association between atherosclerosis and sciatica remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between carotid intima-media thickness and sciatica.

The target population consisted of people aged 45 to 74 years, who had participated in a Finnish nationwide population study during the period 2000 to 2001 and lived within 200 km of the 6 study clinics. Of the 1867 eligible subjects, 1386 (74%) were included in the study. We used high-resolution B-mode ultrasound imaging to measure intima-media thickness, and local or radiating low back pain was determined by a standard interview and clinical signs of sciatica through a physician's clinical examination.

Carotid intima-media thickness was associated with continuous radiating low back pain and with a positive unilateral clinical sign of sciatica among men only. After adjustment for potential confounders, each standard deviation (0.23 mm) increment in carotid intima-media thickness showed an odds ratio of 1.6 (95% confidence interval 1.1-2.3) for continuous radiating low back pain and 1.7 (95% confidence interval 1.3-2.1) for a positive unilateral clinical sign of sciatica. Carotid intima-media thickness was not associated with local low back pain.

Sciatica may be a manifestation of atherosclerosis, or both conditions may share common risk factors.

To examine the association between obesity history and hand grip strength, and whether the association is partly explained by subclinical inflammation and insulin resistance.

Data are from 2,021 men and women aged 55 years and older participating in the representative population-based Health 2000 Survey in Finland. Body mass and body height, maximal hand grip strength, C-reactive protein, and insulin resistance based on homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) were measured in a health examination. Recalled weight at 20, 30, 40, and 50 years of age were recorded to obtain a hierarchical classification of obesity history. Obesity was defined as body mass index = 30 kg/m².

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) can be related to self-reported musculoskeletal pains. The aim of the study was to investigate the association of clinical findings of TMD with self-reported pain in other parts of the body, and to discriminate pain clusters according to definite profiles of pain conditions including TMD among subjects in general population. METHODS: A nationally representative Health 2000 Survey was carried out in 2000-2001 in Finland. The data were obtained from 6227 subjects aged ?30years. Information about pain in different parts of the body was collected from a questionnaire. The associations between clinically assessed TMD findings and pain in other areas were analyzed using chi-square test and logistic regression analyses. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to form natural clusters, i.e., groups in which the individuals had similar profiles of pain conditions. RESULTS: Masticatory muscle pain on palpation associated with back, neck and shoulder pain and pain in joints. Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain on palpation associated with back, neck, shoulder and other joint pain. These associations did not change essentially after adjustment for confounders. After clustering of the study population with the LCA, 5.8% of the study population showed a multiple pain condition linked with TMD findings. Female gender, intermediate/poor self-reported health and presence of a longstanding illness increased the probability to belong to this cluster. CONCLUSIONS: TMD findings associate with pain in several locations. Female gender and presence of impaired health were particularly related to occurrence of multiple pain conditions.

The role of atherosclerosis in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) has not previously been addressed in population studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of cardiovascular risk factors, carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), and clinical atherosclerotic diseases with CTS.

In this cross sectional study, the target population consisted of subjects aged 30 or over who had participated in the national Finnish Health Survey in 2000-2001. Of the 7977 eligible subjects, 6254 (78.4%) were included in our study. Carotid IMT was measured in a sub-sample of subjects aged 45 to 74 (N=1353).

We reviewed work histories of manual handling of loads >20 kg in relation to hip osteoarthritis by age, exposure and work participation.

A nationally representative sample of 3110 Finnish men and 3446 women aged 30-97 was recruited. Diagnosis of hip osteoarthritis was based on standardised clinical examination by trained physicians. Previous exposure to physically loading work was evaluated through interviews. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations between work factors and hip osteoarthritis.

1.9% of men and 2.1% of women had hip osteoarthritis. Almost half the men and a quarter of the women had recurrently handled heavy loads at work. Subjects who had manually handled loads >20 kg had a 1.8-fold increased risk of hip osteoarthritis compared to non-exposed references, when age, body mass index, traumatic fractures and smoking were accounted for. Results were similar for men (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.0 to 4.0) and women (1.8; 1.1 to 2.8). In a sub-analysis of subjects with hip replacement, the OR was 1.7 (1.0 to 2.9). Risk increased first after 12 years' exposure: among men it was 2.2 (0.8 to 5.9) for 13-24 years' exposure, and 2.3 (1.2 to 4.3) for >24 years' exposure. Among women it was 3.8 (1.7 to 8.1) for 13-24 years' exposure. Work participation among men aged 20 kg showed a strong association with hip osteoarthritis in all age groups except the youngest.

Occurrence of asthma has been reported to be frequent in endurance athletes and especially high in winter sport athletes. Recently, the International Olympic Committee has restricted the use of inhaled beta2-agonists and requires documentation for their use. However, epidemiologic data comparing the use of antiasthmatic medication in different sport events are mostly missing.

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out in 2002. All the athletes (N = 494) financially supported by National Olympic Committee comprised the study group. Of them, 446 (90.3%) filled in a structured questionnaire concerning asthma and allergies, use of medication, characteristics of sport activities, and smoking habits. A representative sample of Finnish young adults (N = 1 504) served as controls.

Physician-diagnosed asthma was more common in athletes as compared with controls (13.9% vs 8.4%). Use of any asthma medication was reported by 9.6% of the athletes and by 4.2% of the controls. No difference was observed in the frequency of asthma medication used by winter or summer sport athletes (10.0% vs 9.4%). Inhaled beta2-agonists were used by 7.4% and 3.0% of the athletes and controls, respectively. After adjusting for age, sex, and smoking, odds ratio with 95% confidence interval for use of any asthma medication was 0.69 (0.17-2.92) for motor skills demanding events, 1.87 (0.85-4.11) for speed and power sports, 3.00 (1.68-5.37) for team sports, and 4.16 (2.22-7.78) for endurance events as compared with controls. None of the athletes used antiasthmatic medication without physician diagnosis.

The frequency of antiasthmatic medication is clearly lower than the occurrence of physician-diagnosed asthma in Finnish Olympic athletes. No evidence of overuse of inhaled beta2-agonists is found.